Factor VIII is a well-known plasma protein that is essential to the blood clotting process and is therefore used in the treatment of haemophilia.
Several forms of factor VIII have been used or are intended to be used as active principles for treating haemophilia. These include human factor VIII (like the active principles of Humate® P, Monoclate® P, Immunate® or Hemofil® M), recombinant human factor VIII (like r-VIII SQ which is described in PCT patent application WO 91/09122 (the active principle of ReFacto®) or the active principles of Kogenate® or Recombinate®), porcine factor VIII (which is the active principle of the product Hyate:C® sold by Ipsen, Inc., USA) or recombinant porcine factor VIII (e.g. a modified B-domainless form of porcine factor VIII like the one disclosed in patent application WO 01/68109 and identified as “POL1212” or the protein of SEQ ID NO:38 of the same patent application).
Formulation stability has always been a problem for the pharmaceutical industry dealing with factor VIII pharmaceutical compositions.
Albumin has often been used to stabilise these formulations. However, despite its interesting stabilising effect, albumin presents the drawback of being expensive and also the risk to carry infectious species like prions. For these reasons, the pharmaceutical industry has been seeking in the recent years to replace albumin by other stabilising agents in factor VIII pharmaceutical compositions.